


Everybody has an addiction, mine just happens to be you

by Zukow



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, but not too smutty, idk just read it, like a cute smutt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-07-05
Packaged: 2020-02-16 16:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18694966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zukow/pseuds/Zukow
Summary: high school... yep one of those fics.Haters to lovers you know how it goesJason is alive so that's fun?





	1. I'm sorry what did you say? It sounded like bullshit

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!  
> And feel free to point out any mistakes :) 
> 
> Special thanks to my friend Syd for proof reading this

Cheryl Blossom, the most popular and beautiful girl of Riverdale High, head cheerleader, twin-sister of the schools football team quarterback. The head bitch in charge. She’s always wearing a red lipstick on her pillowy lips, making them look extremely kissable. Her hair is falling down her shoulders in perfect waves and she’s most likely wearing her Vixens outfit whenever you see her walk through the hallways of Riverdale High.

Currently, she’s standing in the hallway, face to face with a bunch of newly arrived Serpents. The leader of the gang, Jughead Jones, is looking at the head cheerleader with an unamused expression on his face as Cheryl stands in front of him with her hands on her hips, trying to look intimidating. Her Vixens and the football team standing behind her as backup. “You and your little gang aren’t welcome here, Southside scum,” The red-headed cheerleader speaks.

Jughead is suddenly pushed aside and a tiny girl with pink hair appears from behind him, stepping  in front of Cheryl, looking her dead in the eyes. “Why don’t you say that to my face?” The girl hisses, not showing any kind of fear towards Cheryl Blossom. Jughead places a hand on the girl’s shoulder to stop her from whatever the hell she’s doing, but she shrugs him off, without taking her eyes off the redhead in front of her.

A smirk appears on Cheryl’s perfectly shaped red lips. She takes a step closer, towering just a little bit above the pink-haired girl. “I said; you’re not welcome here, Southside scum,” She repeats herself. Toni opens her mouth to yell at her but snaps it shut again as Jason starts to talk.

“Okay Cheryl enough,” Her brother grabs her wrist and pulls her back. “I think you’ve made your point,” He’s clearly the nice twin.

“I hope so, dear brother,” A fake smile forms on her red lips. “Now, I can’t kick you out of this school, but I’m warning you faux pink lady, I could make your life a living hell. Do not tempt me. If _any_ of you causes any kind of trouble, _you_ will be the one paying for it,” Cheryl smirks at Toni. “Understood?”

Toni casts her one last angry glare before turning around and walking away, the Serpents following her. Cheryl stands there, watching them walk away until they disappear around the corner. As soon as they’re all gone, Cheryl turns around to face her tall brother. “That wasn’t necessary,” Jason Blossom says as he crosses his arms, looking down at his little sister.

“It was totally necessary. They need to know who rules this school,”

“You made yourself loud and clear. Could you give it a rest now? I don’t want you to get in any trouble,”

“Always so caring,” Cheryl smiles and places her hand on top of her brother’s upper arm. “Don’t worry about me J.J I can take care of myself. See you at home, after school?” She brushes past him and disappears into one of the classrooms.

Jason sighs. He loves his sister, more than anything, he just wishes that she acted more like herself at school. Because truth is, Cheryl isn’t this cold hearted bitch everybody thinks she is. But Jason is the only one who ever gets to see her sweet side.

*****

 

“You can’t say those things to Cheryl Blossom,” Jughead says as he and the Serpents enter the cafeteria for their first lunchbreak of the day. “She wasn’t joking when she said she could make your life a living hell,” They sit down at a table nearby a candy vending machine, which Sweetpea immediately approaches.

“I’m not letting her mess with us,” Toni says as she swallows a bite she just took from her sandwich. “You expect me to just ignore what she said to us? Southside scum? What the hell, Jughead,”

“I know,” He sighs. “But I stood up against her too, at the beginning of the schoolyear and I totally regret doing so. You have no idea how much power this girl has. Seriously Toni, I’m just trying to warn you here,” But his words won’t change Toni’s mind. She’s not scared of Cheryl Blossom and she won’t let her mess with her. The redheaded cheerleader has the whole school wrapped around her little fingers because everyone is afraid of the power she apparently has. But what kind of harm could a teenage girl like her possibly cause? She doesn’t look like one to fight, and Toni has a whole gang to protect her. “Just try to stay away from her,”

Toni casts a glance at the table where the cheerleaders and the football team are enjoying their lunch. Toni locks eyes with Cheryl, who had her gaze already fixed on her. The distance between them is too big for Toni to notice the shade of pink on Cheryl’s cheeks, but it’s definitely there. Cheryl tries to hide the fact that she’d just been caught staring by taking a bite of her apple and moves her eyes away from Toni, and turns around to chime in a conversation with the cheerleaders.

“Toni?” Sweetpea’s voice takes her out of her thoughts. “Did you hear him?”

“Yeah yeah I’ll try to stay away from her,” Toni says while rolling her eyes. “Anyways, Jug-“ Toni changes the subject with a smirk on her lips. “Isn’t it your birthday this weekend?”

Jughead groans and casts her an irritated glare. “Did you really have to remind everyone of this? You know I hate birthdays, and especially if it’s my own. I’m not going to celebrate and don’t you dare to organize a surprise party, Antoinette Topaz,”

‘’Oh come on! It’s your eighteenth birthday. Isn’t that worth a party? Besides, I think we can all use a little fun, since we’re going to have a hell of a time at this school,” Toni says but Jughead seems unamused. Toni rolls her eyes and nudges Sweetpea with her elbow. “A little help here,”

“Agreed,” Sweetpea says while stuffing his mouth with vending machine popcorn. “I’ll take care of the booze,”

“Fine,” Jughead sighs. “I can’t stop you anyway,”

“You know us so well,” Toni smiles.

Suddenly Cheryl Blossom comes rushing to their table. Her perfect hair bouncing up and down as she walks. She crosses her arms as she stops right in front of Jughead.  “One of your _snakes_ is using Jingle Jangle in the boys restroom,”

“What?” He asks, not believing a word of it . “We don’t use that stuff,”

“I saw Fangs with Reggie this morning,” Sweetpea says as he shares a worried look with Toni.

“I’ll take care of it,” Toni jumps up, brushing past Cheryl, making sure to bump into her shoulder as she makes her way out of the cafeteria.

*****

Fangs is holding a yellow paper straw, which contains Jingle Jangle, and he’s about to consume it but drops it into the sink as he sees Toni enter the restroom.

‘’What the hell are you doing?” Toni hisses as she reaches out to hold Fangs’ wrist in a painful grip. He tries to pull his arm away but her grip tightens, her other hand reaches out to cup his chin fiercely. Fangs is much taller than Toni, but the look in Toni’s eyes made him swallow the lump that constricted his throat. “If I see you with that shit one more time, I swear to god I’ll make you regret it,” She let go of Fangs and gives him a hard push that makes him stumble backward. “Get the fuck out,” He makes sure she doesn’t need to repeat herself and leaves immediately.

“Using or dealing drugs is strictly forbidden,” Cheryl Blossom says as she enters the restroom. “I’ll think of a suitable punishment for him,”

“Didn’t you hear Sweetpea? Reggie is the one who gave it to him! And I’m sure it wasn’t all voluntary,” Toni takes a step closer to the redheaded cheerleader who’s looking at her with an amused expression on her face. She isn’t used to people standing up against her. “Fangs’ little brother died from an overdoses Jingle Jangle not too long ago. He’s as much against drugs as you are. You should go talk to Reggie instead of wasting your time on blaming Fangs. Oh, and about that _punishment_ you were talking about; I highly recommend you to stay away from him… You’re not the only crazy bitch in this school,”

****

Toni is sitting at the back of the class, music blasting through the headphones on her head as she works on her Math assignment. Cheryl Blossom is sitting in front of her, the smell of a sweet rose perfume hitting Toni everytime the redhead moves. She smells _really_ good and it’s a little distracting. She’s trying her best to keep focused on her work but there is something about Cheryl Blossom… Something that makes Toni want to cast a quick glance at the back of her head every few minutes.

At some point the redhead turns around, looking at Toni, waiting for her to take off her headphones. Toni raises her eyebrows as she notices the girl glaring at her. “Can I help you?” Toni asks unamused as she let the headphones hang around her neck.

“Your music is too loud,” Cheryl says. Toni rolls her eyes and turns the volume down. “I can’t believe you’re listening to Lana Del Rey,”

Toni scoffs. “Why? Because I’m in a gang? We don’t all listen to heavy metal,”

“You’re a badass riding a motorbike and you’re listening to a song called Summertime Sadness. Maybe you aren’t the badass girl you’re trying to be,”

“Well maybe _you_ aren’t the cold hearted bitch you’re trying to be, since you apparently listen to the same music,” Toni smirks at the way Cheryl’s facial expression changes from smug to annoyed rather quickly. Did she just hit a sensitive nerve?

Cheryl rolls her eyes and turns back around without saying another word to the pink-haired girl sitting behind her. A satisfied smile forms on Toni’s lips. She just made Cheryl Blossom speechless.

*****

During the second lunch break of the day Toni went looking for Fangs. She hadn’t seen him since what happened in the boys restroom earlier the day. She didn’t mean to snap at him like that. But Fangs is like a brother to her and she doesn’t want him to get hurt. She can’t believe he was about to use Jingle Jangle. Although she’s pretty sure it was a set-up.

She finds him sitting at the back of the school’s library, behind a giant bookshelf. He’s eating his lunch while reading a book about Gargoyles and Demons…

“Hiding from _me_ or from Cheryl Blossom? Because in both cases; not necessary,” Toni sits down next to him onto the ground. “I told Cheryl to back off … and you know I can’t stay mad at you. Care to explain what happened?”

Fangs sighs. “Reggie … he wanted me to prove myself. He though I was lame … I just don’t want to get bullied again, Toni,”

“Do you want me to kick his ass?” Toni’s obviously joking. She can’t even reach Reggie’s face. But she would definitely try if she had to. She would do anything to protect Fangs. “Hey-“ She wraps her arm around his shoulder, trying to comfort him. “-you don’t have to be afraid of him. He’ll regret it if he ever bothers you again,”

“Thanks, Toni,” Fangs smiles at her. “Do you want to stay here with me until our lunch break is over? I don’t want to face the Serpents right now, I don’t feel like explaining myself again,”

“Only if you share that sandwich with me, I’m starving,”

*****

Toni loves photography and she always carries her camera with her. The most unexpected moments can create the best photos. Capture everything you see, no matter how ridiculous you think it would look. That’s something her grandpa told her when she first started photographing. She has been taking dozens of photos everyday ever since. She wished her grandpa was still alive to witness her work. He’d be so proud.

Right now, Toni is standing in the Vixens locker room, taking pictures of the benches now cluttered with clothes, empty bags on the floor, open lockers with bottles of perfume and … tortilla chips? _Capture everything, no matter how ridiculous it looks_.

A sudden voice coming from behind her makes her jump a little. “You’re not allowed in here,” Just the sound of the familiar voice is enough to make Toni roll her eyes. She spins around to face Cheryl, who’s covered in sweat from her cheerleading practice. How does she manage to look _this_ hot while covered in sweat? “What are you even doing? Are you taking pictures? You know what, don’t even answer that. I need you to leave, _now_ ,”

“Why are you such a bitch?” Toni asks annoyed, causing Chery’s eyebrows to shoot up to her hairline. “Have you ever tried to ask things nicely?” Toni scoffs. “ _You know what, don’t even answer that_ ,” She mocks Cheryl. “I already know the answer,”

“Are you sure you want to do this? I warned you already this morning, I can and I will make your life a living hell if you keep this up,”

Toni takes a step closer to her. “Do I look like I’m scared of you? I don’t care who you are, I don’t care how much power you have,” Another step closer. “Don’t ever threaten me again. I know how to make someone's life miserable too,”

“You don’t sound very convincing to me but whatever _cha-cha_ ,” Cheryl sighs, annoyed, “How about this; I leave you alone, you leave me alone. I don’t have time for this,” Cheryl brushes past Toni and makes her way to her locker, opens it and starts to fix her lipstick in the mirror. “Goodbye Toni,”

“Whatever,” Toni mumbles and leaves the locker room.

*****

It’s the end of the school day and the hallways are overcrowded with students who can’t wait to get the hell out. Toni and Jughead hurried to their lockers to grab their Serpent jackets to put them back on (since they aren’t allowed to wear them throughout the day) and they’re waiting for Fangs and Sweetpea so they can all go home to the Southside trailer park together.

“It’s a shame her personality is shit,” Toni mumbles as her eyes wander down Cheryl’s body who’s talking to one of the Vixens. Starting at her beautiful eyes, her pillowy lips, down to her belly and her perfect legs. Cheryl Blossom wearing her cheerleader uniform is making her feel _things_.

“Urgh,” Jughead groans in disgust. “You can’t be serious right now. Are you crushing on Cheryl Blossom?”

Toni rolls her eyes and turns to face him. “I am not _crushing_ on her, but come on, you can’t deny that she’s _hot_ ,” Toni takes one last look at her. “Does she have a boyfriend?”

“Do you think anyone can bear to be with her for longer than a day?”

“Stop talking shit about my sister,” Jason Blossom says, who’s standing beside Jughead and heard everything they said. “You don’t know her,” And with those words he approaches his sister and wraps his arm around her shoulder, pressing a kiss against her cheek which causes a huge smile to form on her lips. This is the first time Toni sees her smile, besides from all the fake smiles of course.

Cheryl is obviously putting up walls. This whole bitchy attitude she has going on, Toni doesn’t buy it. There’s more behind that smug smirk of hers. And Toni can’t help wanting to get to know the real Cheryl Blossom.

*****

“Yo open up!” Toni yells before knocking aggressively on the door of her trailer again, trying to get her uncle’s attention. She can’t believe he locked her out again. “I know you can hear me! If you’re going to lock me out, let me get some clothes at least!” She keeps knocking on the door. “I give you five seconds to open this door or I’ll be gone, and I won’t come back! You want that? You want to be miserable and alone?!”

The door swings open. Her uncle is holding a bottle of beer and with his other hand he reaches out to hold Toni’s arm in a painful grip. “Ouch! What the hell let go off me!” But his grip only tightens and he pulls her inside, causing her to stumble and fall onto the ground. She crawls back up and makes an attempt to walk toward her room, but her uncle grabs a fist full of her hair and yanks her back.

Here we go again…

*****

Toni stood in the shower for a good fifteen minutes, enjoying the warm water running down her body. She tried to avoid looking down at her stomach, not sure if she was ready to face whatever her uncle had done to her.

Toni took a few deep breaths, before looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She wasn’t surprised by what she saw, it was exactly what she expected. The lower part of her stomach was covered in black and blue bruises, her right eye was red and puffy but she’s sure it will be blue in the morning.

She sighs loudly as she looks over her injuries. It had been months since her uncle had beat her like this. The last time was after she accidently broke one of his whiskey bottles. He’d hit her so hard that she fell down against the corner of the dinner table. She hadn't slept properly for a month because of a bruised rib.

She’d been through worse than a blue eye and a small bruise on her stomach. She could handle this.

*****

It’s 7:30 am and Jughead is already waiting outside Toni’s trailer, as every morning. Toni leaves her trailer and jumps right onto her motorbike, without saying a word and trying to avoid Jughead’s look. But Jughead had already seen it … “Toni your face-“

“Don’t even act surprised,” Toni snapped angrily. “It’s not the first time you see me with a bruised eye,” She starts the engine of the motorbike, ready to go. “Are you going to keep staring at my face or are we leaving?” She doesn’t wait for an answer and drives off with Jughead following her only seconds later.

*****

Nobody else at school asked anything about the bruise on Toni’s face. First of all; nobody cared. Second of all; she’s a gang member who always looks moody so nobody even dares to approach her.

Sweetpea and Fangs had looked at her with worried expressions on their faces but they didn’t make any comments. They know Toni doesn’t like to talk about it.

And as much as it hurts them to see Toni in pain, they can’t do anything to help her. She doesn’t want any help. It has been like this for years. She’s used to it.

*****


	2. It hurts, but it's okay... I'm used to it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> special thanks to syd for proof reading this and supporting me

The week seemed to last an eternity for Toni. People kept staring at her face, some even whispering behind her back as she passed them in the hallways. Her eye was still slightly blue, but the bruise had faded away for the most part now. She’d been wearing a baseball cap, trying to hide the bruise behind it. But of course, everybody already knew about it. Luckily nobody had a clue how exactly she got the bruise.

Toni had stayed at Jughead’s trailer after what happened on Monday. She knew staying away only made her uncle angrier, but she couldn’t bear to be around him right now. She’d quickly grabbed some of her stuff on Tuesday, after school when her uncle was having a drink at the Whyte Wyrm. She was feeling angstier every second she was in that trailer.

The weekend had finally arrived, and Toni is looking forward to Jughead’s birthday party tonight. She can’t wait to have a drink and forget about everything that happened this week. They’re having the party at Sweetwater river, because the Southside trailer park isn’t really a fun place to hold a party.

It’s currently 7pm and a few people had already arrived. Reggie (who invited himself) had brought his speakers and volunteered to be the DJ for the night.

Music is blasting through the speakers and people are dancing. Sweetpea and Fangs are taking shots, Jughead is watching them with a judgmental expression on his face. And Reggie and Archie are- … nobody knows what exactly those two are doing but they’re shirtless, as always.

“I’m guessing you’re the one who organized this party?” Veronica Lodge approaches Toni. The raven-haired girl is wearing a blue bathing suit, ready to take a swim at Sweetwater river.

“I did, why?” Toni asks, confused. Why is she talking to her? What is she even doing here? Who invited her?

“I just wanted to compliment you. There hasn’t been a party in Riverdale since forever and it seems like everyone is enjoying themselves. I texted a few people to come join us, I hope that isn’t a problem?”

Toni’s eyes widen. Fuck, yes that _is_ a problem! She promised Jughead she was only going to invite some of his best friends. He wasn’t happy when he saw Reggie arrive, let alone more people he doesn’t even know. “Uh who exactly did you invite?”

“Here you are,” A familiar voice interrupts their conversation, and a redheaded girl approaches them. Toni rolls her eyes, a little annoyed by the cheerleader’s presence. They hadn’t talked to each other since their moment in the Vixens locker room. Cheryl smiles at Veronica, who smiles back at her in return. Cheryl, who’s purposely ignoring Toni’s presence, grabs Veronica’s wrist and starts to pull her away. “Want to go for a swim?”

“Oh uh- sure. Do you want to join us?” Veronica asks, looking at Toni, who has her eyes fixed on Cheryl. Her red hair was loose and wild, and the pink bikini she was wearing perfectly showed off her curves. Cheryl can’t suppress the smirk forming on her lips as she catches the pink-haired girl looking at her body. “Hello?”

“No,” Toni says. “I don’t really like swimming,” She lies, she loves swimming. “Have fun,”

“Alright then, talk to you later?” Veronica asks, and Toni manages to give her a small nod before Veronica’s dragged away by Cheryl. Toni groans, _why the fuck are they here?!_

*****

Sweetpea thought it would be fun to stay and camp at Sweetwater river after the party, so they brought tents. Jughead is currently hiding in one of those tents, isolating himself from the party while eating chips and drinking beer.

Toni is making her way over to Jughead. “What are you doing here? This is _your_ party,” Toni says, crossing her arms over her chest as she comes to a stop in front of him.

“Have you seen the amount of uninvited guests? Basically the whole school is here, even Cheryl Blossom,”

“I’m so sorry,” Toni sighs. “Archie invited Veronica who invited everyone else. Can’t you just ignore them and have fun with us? Archie’s having a beer drinking contest, I’m sure you can beat him,” Toni looks at him with pleading eyes. Jughead sighs and gets up, zipping the tent closed before following Toni who’s already making her way over to Archie. “I have found a participant for you,”

“Jughead?” Archie laughs, knowing he’s going to win this easily. “Alright let’s do it,” He pours some beer into a few plastic cups. “First to finish three cups wins,”

“Winner gets to kiss Toni,” Sweetpea says, earning a slap against the back of his head from Toni.

“Yeah that’s not happening,’’ Toni scrunches up her face in disgust as the boys start to chug the beers. _This is why I’m more into girls_ , she thinks. She looks away, catching a glimpse of Cheryl in the distance. She’s still in the water, now with her arms wrapped around some guy’s neck. Who is he? She has never seen him before. ‘’I don’t want you guys to throw up on me so I’m going for a swim,” Toni knows Jughead is going to lose, he’s a lightweight. She only encouraged him to participate so that he would come out of his tent. And she really doesn’t want to see a bunch of guys throw up so she’s getting away from them as far as possible.

*****

_Who the hell is this guy_ , Toni wondered while looking at Cheryl and the stranger who are only a few feet away from her. Cheryl’s arms are still wrapped around his neck, his hands resting on her waist. The redhead throws her head back with loud insane laughter. She continues laughing at something he said as he grabs her hand and starts to tug her toward a giant rock in the distance. Her laughter dies down and she tries to pull away from him, but his grip is too strong as he continues pulling her into the distance.

Toni frowns. What the hell is he doing? She’s too far away to see what exactly is going on but Cheryl’s clearly panicking as she starts to hit him against his chest with her free hand, which doesn’t seem to bother him. Cheryl opens her mouth, shouting something but nobody is close enough to hear her.

Toni’s eyes open wide as realization struck her. _Shit!_ She starts swimming as fast as possible, watching them disappear behind the giant rock. The water becomes shallow the closer she gets to the rocks. Unable to swim at some point, her feet touch the bottom of the river and she hurries toward them. Terrified cries filled the air, making Toni’s stomach twist.

The tall guy with black curly hair has his face buried in Cheryl’s neck, his hands wandering down her body. Without any hesitation, Toni balled her hands into a fists and repeatedly hits him against his back. “Let go of her you asshole!” The guy backs away from Cheryl, who falls down on her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

“What’s going on?” Jason appears from behind Toni. His eyes move from Cheryl up to the guy, and he doesn’t need his question to be answered. “I’ll take care of him, make sure my sister’s okay, please?” He asks Toni who immediately kneels down next to Cheryl. “You’re going to regret this, Nick!” Jason yells, his voice full of anger. _Nick? So Jason knows this guy?_ Jason starts to push him away from them. “Walk! Now! You piece of shit!”

“Cheryl,” Toni breathes out, hesitantly placing her hand on her knee. Cheryl flinches at first but relaxes as she realizes it’s just Toni who’s touching her. “Hey, you need to try to calm down, okay? You’re having a panic attack. Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth …” She does what she’s told and her breathing slows down only seconds later. “Let’s get you out of this water, it’s getting cold,”

“N-no. P-please, what if he-“

“Sshh, it’s okay,” Toni shushes her. “Jason’s taking care of Nick, he won’t hurt you ever again. You’re safe now, Cheryl,” Toni gets up and takes Chery’s hand, helping her to get up too. “Come on, Jughead is probably making a bonfire by now, let’s go warm up,”

*****

“No questions,” Toni says strictly as she arrives at the bonfire with Cheryl. The party was over, Jason had sent everyone home. Only some of the Serpents were still at Sweetwater river because they decided to stay for the night. “Come with me, I have some dry clothes for you,” Toni’s still holding Cheryl’s hand as they make their way toward her tent.

Toni zips the tent closed behind her. A camping lantern lights up the tent, which is barely big enough for two people to stand in. Cheryl is standing only a few feet away from her, shivering and feeling uneasy. There’s an uncomfortable silence between the two girls as Toni digs through her backpack, searching for clothes. “I’m sure it’s not something you would usually wear, but at least it’s dry and clean,” Toni says as she hands the redheaded cheerleader a pair of gray sweatpants and a red hoodie. Cheryl smiles at her. It’s small but genuine. “I will be outside at the bonfire. You should come join us after you’ve changed. Just to warm up, it’s getting pretty cold so-“

“I would like that,” Cheryl says softly with a nod. “And thank you, for the clothes,”

“No problem,” Toni leaves the tent and approaches the other Serpents who are gathered around the bonfire, sitting on towels on the grass. “Uh Sweetpea-“ Toni starts as she comes to a stop in front of the tall boy. “-do you have a shirt that I could wear? Cheryl’s wearing my clothes and I’m freezing,” Toni’s still wearing her wet swimming clothes.

“Yeah of course,” He jumps up. “Sit down Tiny, I’ll go grab a shirt for you,” Toni hates it when he calls her _Tiny,_ but she really can’t argue with him right now. She sits down onto his towel and hums as the heat of the bonfire starts to warm up her body. Sweetpea arrives soon enough, white shirt in his hand. He sits back down onto his towel next to Toni after handing her the shirt.

Toni notices a shadow leaving her tent, and only a few seconds later Cheryl Blossom appears in her sight. _She looks adorable wearing my clothes_ , Toni thinks. She gets up. “Sit down, I’ll be right back,” Cheryl looks hesitantly at the Serpent who Toni just sat next to. “It’s okay,” Toni whispers as she notices the look on Cheryl’s face. Cheryl takes Toni’s place on the towel, looking up at the boy next to her, the Serpent tattoo in his shoulder staring directly at her.

“Would you like one of those, Blossom?” Sweetpea smirks as he catches her staring at his tattoo. Cheryl decides to ignore him and quickly moves her eyes away from him, staring into the fire in front of her.

“I’m sure it would look pretty on your wrist,” Sweetpea continues as he reaches his hand out to touch her wrist. Cheryl flinches away from him, the little touch causes her to experience a flashback to what happened an hour ago. “Woah calm down, I’m not an actual snake _I don’t bite_ ,” Sweetpea jokes, completely unaware of what happened to Cheryl.

“Leave her alone,” Toni says while leaving her tent, dressed in Sweetpea’s shirt, which is falling down to her knees. “Do you want to stay, Cheryl? You can sleep in my tent, I’ll share one with Sweetpea or Fangs,”

“I uh-“ Cheryl is ready to tell her she needs to go home, but she wants to stay. She doesn’t want to go home, in the dark, all by herself. She doesn’t want to face her mother or her brother who, without a doubt, already told their mother what happened. Jason is the sweetest guy on earth, but he’s also a momma’s boy which is something Cheryl wished he wasn’t. She _hates_ her mother, and Jason keeps running back to her to tell her everything. He has no idea what kind of consequences that has for her … “-is it really okay if I stay?”

“Of course,” Toni nods. “I’ll give you a ride back home in the morning. I haven’t seen your car around here, so I’m assuming your brother gave you a ride today?” Cheryl nods and gets up, walking past her. “Hey wait,” Toni follows her. “Cheryl,” Toni grabs her hand to stop her from walking away. “Do you need anything? What happened today is- _traumatizing_. I know we’re not friends or anything but I’m here if you need me,”

Cheryl’s eyes fill up with tears and a lump forms in her throat. “Come with me?” She croaks out. Toni nods and follows her into the tent. “I’m s-so scared,” Cheryl cries as soon as Toni zips the tent closed. Cheryl falls down on her knees onto the sleeping bag. “H-he-“

“Sssh,” Toni kneels down beside her and wraps her arms around her body. “He isn’t here,” She softly caresses her hand up and down Cheryl’s back, holding her close with her other hand. “You’re safe here. You’re surrounded by Serpents who would protect you without thinking twice about it. And maybe that’s hard to believe, but I’m letting you stay here with us, which means something. I don’t give up my tent for just anyone, and they know that too,” Toni tightens her arms around the girl’s body and begins to rock her back and forth, trying to comfort her.

“W-we were just having f-fun. He was t-telling me stupid j-jokes and suddenly h-he,”

“I know, I know. I saw it happen. I came to rescue you as soon as I realized what he was doing,”

Silence. Complete silence. Cheryl stopped sobbing for a moment as her breath caught in her throat. “You did?” She breathes out, almost as if she didn’t believe her. Toni pulls back slightly to look at the broken girl she’s holding in her arms. Cheryl lifts her head to lock eyes with Toni. Toni could see the hurt in her eyes. The beautiful pair of brown eyes in front of her are holding so much damage, it couldn’t be just from today. She has never seen a girl as damaged as Cheryl Blossom. It hurts Toni to see her like this, even though they don’t really know each other. Cheryl suddenly moves her face closer to Toni’s, whose eyes widen at the action. She feels a pair of soft, cold lips touch her cheek. “Thank you, Toni,”

Toni could feel her cheeks flushing with heat. “No problem. Are you okay now? Do you need anything else?” Cheryl shakes her head. Toni’s hand moves from Cheryl’s back up to her cheek to wipe her tears away. “No more crying tonight, try to get some sleep,” Toni gets up, causing an uncontrollable whine to escape Cheryl’s mouth at the loss of contact. “There’s a bottle of water in my backpack in case you get thirsty. I’ll be in Sweetpea’s tent if you need me. Goodnight Cheryl,”

“Goodnight Toni,”

*****

Toni had the worst night’s sleep ever. She’d shared a single-person tent with Sweetpea, who had been snoring all night long, sleeping on a cold hard ground since Cheryl used her sleeping bag. And of course Sweetpea isn’t gentle enough to give up his own sleeping bag for Toni. Luckily he did have a blanket for her, so at least she wasn’t shivering throughout the night. She has a stiff neck from the uncomfortable sleeping position and her whole body is covered in mosquito bites because the tent’s zipper was broken.

She felt terrible.

It’s 8 am and Toni is making her way over to her own tent to wake up Cheryl. She promised to give her a ride home. “Cheryl?” She zips the zipper down. “Wake up sleeping bea- oh“

The tent’s empty.


	3. dying to know, afraid to find out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there was a comment about how it felt like there was a chapter missing in between chapter one and twee. I understand. But remember that cheryl was sexually harassed. She just wanted to be safe and right at that moment it felt safe to be around Toni because she's the one who saved her. Hope that makes sense. 
> 
> Aaaand back to Cheryl being a bitch. Enjoy. 
> 
>  
> 
> thanks for proof reading again syd x

‘’Out of my way  _snake_ , ” Cheryl says as she purposely bumps her shoulder against Toni as she passes her in the hallway. Toni scoffs. Cheryl is acting like a bitch again as if nothing happened last Saturday. As if she hadn’t been  _crying_  in her arms. Toni had been worried about her when she found an empty tent on Sunday morning. She left without saying anything while she was mentally unstable. Toni was very relieved when she saw Cheryl’s red car in the school’s parking lot this morning. But a little less happy with their first interaction of the day … 

Toni watches Cheryl disappear into the girl’s restroom and she follows the cheerleader, letting the door slam closed behind her. Cheryl continues applying red lipstick to her lips, ignoring Toni’s presence. “What the hell is your problem?!” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” 

“I can’t believe you’re being a bitch to me after what happened last Saturday,” 

Cheryl spins around to face Toni. “I was scared and I didn’t want to be alone. Don’t feel special. For all I care, it could have been Jughead too,” She scrunches up her face in disgust. “Never mind, anyone but him,” 

Toni shakes her head in disbelief. “I can see right through you. You’re broken and helpless and you’re trying to hide it all by acting the way you do, pushing people away, pretending to be this coldhearted bitch. But really you’re just soft, miserable and alone,” As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them.  _Shit that was mean_. There’s a hint of pain in Cheryl’s eyes but it’s quickly replaced with anger.  

Cheryl takes a step closer to Toni, her face red with anger. “If you don’t shut up  _right now_ , I’ll scratch your fucking eyes out. You know nothing about me. You don’t know what I feel or who I am. You have no right to say those things!” A tear falls down her cheek, which she quickly wipes away with the back of her hand. “Stay away from me,” She exits the restroom, leaving a stunned Toni behind. 

Toni groans and gives herself a mental slap.  _Stupid! Why_ _did I_ _say those things to a damaged girl?!_ _I’m_ _only making_ _it_ _worse!_ _I should stay away from her, she doesn’t want my help_. 

*****

“Toni! Toni! We need your help!” Fangs pushes himself through the crowd of people in the hallway. “Sweetpea had a fight with Reggie and the Bulldogs are now face to face with the Serpents! Jughead just pulled a knife out of his pocket, you’re the only one who can stop him. Come on let’s go!” Toni slams her locker closed and follows Fangs who’s making his way out of the building, toward the parking lot. 

The Serpents and Bulldogs are facing each other, the leaders of both groups - Jason and Jughead were in front. Jason doesn’t look as angry as Jughead does. In fact, Jason seems very calm. He has his arms crossed over his chest with a neutral expression on his face. Jughead on the other hand is furious. He’s holding his pocket knife firmly in his hand, clenching his teeth, his eyes spitting fire. 

Toni hurries to him. “Jughead, what are you doing? Put your knife away before you get in trouble,” 

“Reggie’s beaten the shit out of Sweetpea for no reason! We were just sitting here, on our motorbikes, waiting for the other Serpents. And suddenly, out of nowhere, Reggie grabbed him, pulled him off his motorbike, threw him onto the ground and started to beat him up!” 

“There's been a burglary in my dad's bar,” Reggie says, who pushes himself forward, in front of Jason. “The windows have been smashed and a few bottles of booze are missing. I know it was him! I saw the bottles of booze at the party at Sweetwater river. The camera footage shows a boy with medium-length hair and a Serpent tattoo on his right upper arm,”  

Toni’s mind quickly flashes back to a conversation she had with Sweetpea.  _‘’I’ll take care of the booze,”_ Fuck! It  _was_  Sweetpea _._ But that still doesn't give Reggie the right to beat him up. 

“Even if it was him, there was no need to beat him up! We could’ve solved it in a different way,” 

“Like what? It’s not like you Serpents have enough money to cover all the damage. It’s about time you Southside scum were taught a lesson!” 

Toni takes a few steps closer to him. “I dare you to-“ 

“ENOUGH!” Jason yells, who steps in front of Reggie to prevent yet another fight. “Beating him up was wrong! This kind of violence can't be tolerated. And Reggie’s going to pay for the mistake he’s made!” Jason turns to face Reggie, who’s looking at him with a shocked expression on his face. “You’re out of the team,” 

“What?! We need him! We have an important game next week!” Moose yells from behind Reggie, but Jason only shrugs in response.   

Reggie scoffs. “Some leader you are,” He gives Jason a push against his chest and makes his way over to his black BMW cabrio, jumps in, starts the engine and speeds out of the parking lot.  

“I’ve done my part. I expect you to repay Reggie’s father to cover all the damage,” Jason says. 

“I’ll figure something out,” Toni mumbles. “Come on guys let’s go! We’re done here!” 

“Toni wait,” Jason says and Toni turns back around to face him. “I wanted to thank you for taking care of my sister. She told me everything about Saturday. Maybe she isn’t showing her appreciation, but the both of us are thankful for what you did,” Jason sighs. “She’s a mess, Toni,” Toni’s heart sinks at the worry in Jason’s eyes. “She doesn’t have any friends to talk to,”  _Maybe she should try to_ _be nice to people._  

“What happened to her last Saturday is very traumatic. Maybe she should try to talk to a therapist,” 

“Mother won’t let her. She thinks therapists are for weak people,” 

Toni’s eyebrows form a deep frown. “What? So she’s just going to let her daughter live with continuous anxiety? This isn’t a minor issue. This is some serious shit - she needs help!” 

“I have to go,” Jason mumbles as he brushes past her. “Thanks again,” 

“Jason wait-“ But the boy is already in his car. 

Toni sighs. She doesn’t know what to do. She wants to help Cheryl but she’s acting like a huge bitch. Cheryl probably isn't waiting for her help anyway. She needs professional help. Toni can’t believe her own mother won’t let her go to a therapist. She can’t imagine how awful Cheryl must feel. Something very traumatic happened to her and she has no one to talk to. Except for her brother, but Jason doesn’t seem like he knows what to do either. 

*****

“Put this on,” Toni throws a t-shirt at Sweetpea and Fangs who are currently hanging out at Sweetpea’s trailer. It’s a black t-shirt with ‘MANTLE’ written on it. “We’re serving drinks tonight,” Sweetpea is lying on his couch, pressing a bag of frozen peas on his left eye. 

Sweetpea scoffs. “Absolutely not,” 

‘’Look, it's your fault that we have to do this. You got yourself into trouble so now you have to pay for it too. I talked to Reggie's father and he wants us to work for him just for one night. That's all he asks. He has accepted my apologies on your behalf and you don't have to pay him any money. It's all settled. He’s quite a reasonable man, very much unlike Reggie,” 

Sweetpea shoots up in a sitting position, groaning at the sting in his head. “Really?” 

"Yeah. Oh, and he grounded Reggie till Christmas break. So he won't be bothering us for a while. Now, stop whining and put on that shirt, we start at 8 o'clock tonight," Toni is already wearing her work outfit. "It's game night so it's going to be busy," Toni walks into the kitchen and pours herself a glass of juice. She feels at home at Sweetpea's trailer, after all the years of sleeping on his couch when her uncle locked her out again and again ... 

“And why exactly do I have to do this? I didn’t do anything wrong,” Says Fangs, concerned about his plans with Kevin tonight.  

“Because we’re Serpents and we help each other,” Toni says. “Jughead will be there too,” 

Fangs sighs. “I guess I will be watching a movie with Kevin another day,” 

Toni smirks and walks over to the small dinner table. She sits down across from him. “You and Kevin? How come I’ve never heard you talk about him before?” 

‘’Because we’ve only hung out together once so far, and Betty was there. But it was fun and he asked me if maybe I’d like to hang out alone with him sometime,” His cheeks turn red as he talks. “I said yes, of course,” 

“You know what, you should go watch that movie with him,” Sweetpea says. “I made this mess, you shouldn’t be the one paying for it,” 

“No,” Fangs shakes his head. “Toni’s right, we’re Serpents and we help each other. Kevin can wait another day,” 

Sweetpea smiles. “Thanks buddy. Oh, and sorry for all of this,”  

“It’s fine,” Toni says. “We’ve all made mistakes,” 

*****

Toni and Fangs are standing behind the bar while Sweetpea and Jughead are serving drinks. Sweetpea had protested when he heard that he had to serve drinks instead of mixing them behind the bar, but Toni had reminded him once again that this was his fault and he wisely kept his mouth shut. Jughead hadn’t said a thing, he just wanted this night to be over as soon as possible. 

“One  _vieux carré_  for the lovely lady,” Toni winks at the blonde woman in front of her. “Enjoy,” The woman, who’s at least 25 years old, winks back at her and walks away. She really has no clue at all that her bartender is only 17 years old, and not even legally old enough to mix drinks. Reggie’s father had promised to keep his mouth shut as long as they did too. 

Toni's eyes fall on a redheaded girl who’s making her way over to the bar. Cheryl Blossom, of course. Toni’s eyes travel down her body. She’s wearing a short black skirt and a sleeveless red lacy top.  _Fuck, she looks really good_. There was a certain swing to her hips that made Toni’s hands twitch with desire to touch them. 

“Aren’t you a little young to be a bartender?” Cheryl asks as she sits down on one of the barstools. 

Toni smirks. “Are you stalking me?” She teases playfully, ignoring her question. 

Cheryl scoffs. “Absolutely not. One Bellini, please,” 

“Aren’t you a little young to drink alcohol?” Toni asks mockingly.  

“I guess we both have a secret to keep,” Toni raises her eyebrows, a little taken aback by her comment. Cheryl sighs. “Look I just want a drink. I honestly couldn’t care less about whatever you are doing,”  

“Well,” Toni starts to mix the drink. “Lucky for you I’m working tonight. How were you planning on getting that drink if I weren’t the bartender? Do you have a fake ID card?” She finishes mixing the drink and pours it into a glass. 

Cheryl scoffs. “I’m offended that you have such low expectations of me. I’m Cheryl Blossom, all I need to get what I want is a little charm,” She takes a sip from her drink and hums, causing Toni to smirk proudly. 

“Well, use that charm of yours when ordering your next drink, you made me very curious Cher,” 

“Don’t call me Cher, only my friends call me Cher,” Cheryl said, making it obvious that she was annoyed. “And you’re  _not_  my friend,” 

“You have friends?” Toni scoffs. She doesn’t want to be mean, but every time she tries to have a normal conversation with the redhead she makes a bitchy comment. So why would she be nice if Cheryl isn’t nice to her either?  

“Listen, I’m just here to have a drink. Now leave me alone and go mix some more Bellini’s,” She says through gritted teeth. “Oh, and I want a few shots,” She grabs her drink and makes her way over to a booth where a few cheerleaders are seated. She sits down next to Josie, who puts a comforting hand on her knee. 

“Are you okay?” Josie asks. “You look a little pale. Did the Serpent girl say something mean to you?” 

“I’m fine,” Cheryl says, a fake smile playing on her lips. “I asked her for shots,” 

“She’s serving you alcohol?” Josie asks with a frown. 

“You know me, I always get what I want,” 

Sweetpea walks up to them with a tray full of drinks in his hand “A Bellini and some shots,” He places the drinks on the table in the middle of the booth. “Enjoy,” He's about to walk away but Josie takes his hand. 

“Can I have an alcohol-free cocktail please? Something fruity maybe? I don’t care as long as it’s good,” She smiles at him and he nods before quickly making his way over to the bar. 

“Okay first of all; ew?” Cheryl starts. “You’re flirting with a  _snake_. Second of all; alcohol-free? Really? I just ordered all these shots!” 

“It’s  _Monday_ , Cher. I don't want to be in class tomorrow with a huge hangover,” 

 “Fine,” Cheryl rolls her eyes. “I’ll have your shot then,” She grabs a shot glass and tosses back the liquor, scrunching up her face as the alcohol burns her throat. “Are you all really letting me drink alone?” 

“One shot won’t hurt.  _Cheers bitches_ ,” Veronica says before taking a shot.  

‘’Anyone else?” Cheryl asks but everyone remains silent. Cheryl scoffs. “You’re all boring,” She grabs her Bellini and empties her glass in one go. She jumps up. “I’m leaving,” 

“Wow! You’re not driving home,” Josie jumps up too. “I’ll bring you home,” 

“I’m fine,” 

“Maybe. I’m still not letting you drive though,” Josie says firmly. Cheryl smiles softly. Despite the fact that she just wants to be alone and can drive very well on her own, she likes the fact that Josie is worried about her. There are not many people who would have done this for her. “See you tomorrow guys,” Josie says goodbye to the other cheerleaders and she leaves the bar with Cheryl. “What was all that about? I’ve never seen you drink alcohol before. In fact, you told me you are very much  _against_  alcohol!”  

“Yeah, well, I changed my mind,” Cheryl sighs as she takes a seat in the passenger seat of her red car.  

“You know what I think? I think something happened and you want to drown your sorrows. Talk to me, please?” Josie sounds genuinely worried about her. Cheryl sighs. She wants to vent her feelings, and Josie comes closest to what she can call a  _frien_ _d._ But she just can’t… 

“I’m fine,” Cheryl lies. “Take me home, please?” 

She just wants to be alone. It’s what she’s used to. That's when she feels most comfortable. 


End file.
